I'm super excited today. Just yesterday, my dad came home from some epic, all day fun-and-diving-in-the-sun trip to the keys, while I wasted away in a dim house, doing homework and eating icecream. It was totally worthwhile though, because guess who got a sweet haul of pescatarian goodness? Turns out training a pre-teen kid to shoot metal spears at small, defenseless animals was a good idea.
Funny thing, my family spearfishing. My whole family is here in Florida, and fishing/diving is like, the great pastime down here. We really appreciate our fresh, and ever dwindling supply of fish, so seafood is like scaly, wiggly gold to us. I was free diving by fifth grade, and my little sister (age of 12, folks) was a certified diver as soon as she could save up for her own B.C. (Bouyancy Control? Battery Crusher? Berry Cobbler?) Anyway, long story aside, seafood is the best thing ever, and most folks would kill for the fresh source we have down here in Florida.
So here's my dad, walking through the door, dragging the dinner through our front lawn in a moist and slightly salty cooler full of seaweed-scented cadavers. I think it's a guy thing, (and a cat thing) the whole killing animals and bringing them home for the family. Like if they drive through town with a cooler-full, people will point at his manly 7 seater Tahoe, and say "There goes a fisherman."
I say, "Dad, what up with the luggage?" and he opens it to show me the beautiful pink and black fish, with petite little fangs, pretty much the biggest pile of hogfish I've ever seen. We had that, and a whole bunch of red and brown shells, lobster with the heads missing, ready for butter. That is to say, we hit the jackpot.
Seviche. I have been seriously and literally dying to try this recipe since I tasted it one year at a Prostart Culinary competition practice, but I've been waiting for just the right fish, the perfect time and the best ingredients. I've found them. The filets of this fish are so white and tender, you'd think it was made of marshmallows. It flakes apart so easily and there is no impurities in the flesh.
This dish always came off as advanced to me, something that I wouldn't be able to do without some serious training or some nice supplies that I couldn't find in my mom's kitchen. I feel pretty stupid now, because my chef told me how to make it, and it's pretty much on that difficulty level right between cereal and toast.
Here's how it works, in Jessica terms: You can eat food raw, cooked with heat, cooked with oil, or cooked with ACID. That's right. Acid. I pictured goggles, gloves, and test tubes. Apparently everybody else with a brain pictured a lemon. And they were right. The citric acid in a lemon or lime or even an orange will actually cook the meat of your fish with the same burning sensation that you feel in your eyes when you peel a particularly juicy orange. You take fish, cut up into nice little dices, and you marinate them for like, 20-30 minutes in lime and lemon juice. After it's all nice and deliciously cooked, you add minced cilantro (lots, because it is delicious), salt, pepper, and a little cayenne pepper for some kick. That is a REALLY basic summary, so dont crucify me for missing anything.
If you ever make this, or any other seafood, just remember: fish aren't that big of a resource. Turns out that most species of fish that you're eating now are doomed to extinction within the next 30 or so years. So whenever you eat any kind of fish, check out which ones aren't doing so hot right now, and which ones that there are alot of. Chilean seabass? Forget it. Grouper? Not doing so good.
So you know what I'm doing tonight. Stuffing my face.
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